1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a case for a computer and, in particular, to a case with a modular panel permitting interchangeability of computer mother boards.
2. Brief Statement of the Prior Art
The popular personal computer widely used in office and home employs a mother board which is secured to a wall of a computer case. The commonly used computer cases are of two general configurations; a generally flat shape (desk-top) or a vertical or upright shape (tower). In either configuration, the rear wall of the case has one or more apertures to serve interface (I/O) ports which permit connection of peripherals, such as a keyboard, to the mother board. Additionally, the mother board has a plurality of sixteen or thirty-two pin sockets which receive removable accessory cards such as sound cards, graphics cards and cards which are dedicated to specific software programs or to peripherals such as printers, scanners, and the like. The rear edges of the accessory cards often have one or more sockets for connection of plugs attached to cables which extend to a peripheral such as a CRT monitor, modem, scanner, digitizing tablet, printer, etc.
The conventional computer case has an inset panel which has a plurality of slots to provide access to the rear edges of the accessory cards that are seated in the card sockets of the mother board. Commonly, these slots are filled with a "punch-out" plate. The upper edge of the inset panel also has a plurality of threaded apertures to receive screw fasteners that extend through tabs at the upper rear corner of the accessory card to secure the cards firmly in the sockets of the mother board.
The computer case as thus described has been used for quite a few years without any significant modifications since the manufacturers of mother boards have conformed to an industry standard in the location and orientation of the card sockets for the plug-in accessory cards, and of the sockets for peripherals such as keyboards.
Recently, however, some manufacturers of mother boards, notably Intel and Western Digital, have altered the designs for mother boards and have integrated a number of functions such as graphics, serial and parallel interfaces in the mother board using integrated chip sets. Consequently, a number of the I/O ports and functions previously served by accessory cards are now integrated into the mother board which has a plurality of sockets such as 7, 9, and 25 pin sockets which receive connector plugs of peripherals such as monitors, modems, printers, and the like. Additionally, these mother boards are provided with only a single card socket which receives a plug-in buss card. The latter is an accessory card which has a plurality of 32 pin sockets to receive additional plug-in accessory cards, resulting in an orientation of these accessory cards which is parallel, rather than orthogonal, to the mother board. Consequently, the location and orientation of the access slots in the rear panel of the computer case must be changed from their conventional or standard location to accommodate the newer types of mother boards.
Computer owners seek the ability to upgrade computers by replacement of accessories and mother boards. Upgrading to the latest mother boards such as those described above, however, requires replacement of the computer case as that case cannot accommodate mother boards having different locations of the I/O ports and slots for accessory cards. This represents an unnecessary expense and inconvenience.